Jay C. Fikes

My latest book, Beyond Peyote: Kieri and the Huichol Deer Shaman is the biography of a Huichol shaman and more. This book is endorsed by five people, three of whom are prominent anthropologists. To learn more about Beyond Peyote watch my brief video (see Author Updates) or visit my website: www.jayfikes.com

Unknown Huichol: Shamans and Immortals, Allies Against Chaos, summarized what I learned from four shamans; by making many pilgrimages with them to sacred sites, observing their rituals and translating many of their songs and myths. Unknown Huichol, published in 2011, has not reached the popular audience that this new book, Beyond Peyote, is intended to reach. Readers who like Beyond Peyote may follow up with Unknown Huichol, which discloses little known truths about Huichol peyote rituals and shamans. Both these books provide accurate and insightful understanding of an esoteric oral tradition which is still rare in today's world, dominated by sensational, superficial & self-aggrandizing stories about "shamanic" practices. For more about me visit my website: www.jayfikes.com

As an undergraduate I was inspired by the books of Carlos Castaneda. After completing my doctorate in anthropology at the University of Michigan I published an expose in 1993: Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism & the Psychedelic Sixties. During my research for that book two professors threatened me with lawsuits. My first publisher, Madison Books, abandoned publication of my Castaneda expose because of threats of litigation made by Peter Furst. I sued Peter Furst but my case was dismissed by New Mexico's Supreme Court. The 2007 BBC film documentary called Tales from the Jungle, Carlos Castaneda complements my 1993 expose. Since then Freedom of Information requests suggest that Castaneda, Furst and Myerhoff were intelligence agents, a topic I have discussed on Gnostic Media podcasts.

As a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. I participated in a coalition dedicated to restoring religious freedom after the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court ruling against religious freedom for peyote worshiping members of the Native American Church. As part of that lobbying effort, I began writing the biography of a prominent Native American Church leader & member of the American Indian Movement (AIM) which was published in 1996 as Reuben Snake, Your Humble Serpent.

From 1999-2016 I taught social anthropology students at Yeditepe University in Istanbul. During that time I edited Robert Zingg's collection of Huichol myths (published as Huichol Mythology) and produced a documentary film based on Zingg's 1934 film footage of Huichol rituals. My collaboration with four Huichol shamans, including making pilgrimages, began in 1976 in Santa Catarina and continued in Tuxpan de Bolanos beginning in 1996. I hope to continue interpreting Huichol myths and researching the influence intelligence agencies have on academia and popular culture.